POWER AS A CORRUPTIVE FORCE IN J.R.R. TOLKIEN’S THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY = SỨC MẠNH TÀN PHÁ CỦA QUYỀN LỰC TRONG BỘ BA TÁC PHẨM CHÚA TỂ NHỮNG CHIẾC NHẪN CỦA J.R.R. TOLKIEN

• Main Author: Nguyễn, Thị Yến Phượng
• Other Authors: Lê, Thành Trung
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Tiếng Anh > Dạy và học; Ngôn ngữ văn học
• Online Access: http://repository.vnu.edu.vn/handle/VNU_123/100691
• Institution: Vietnam National University, Hanoi

This thesis adopts a reader-response approach, together with historical criticism and sociological criticism and is conducted through the process of reading The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Tolkien’s other works concerning Middle Earth and the researches relating to power in the LOTR Trilogy in order to prove that the LOTR offers an insightful perspective towards the effect of power on individuals from different backgrounds. The thesis examines the historical and social factors, namely the World War I & II and Christianity influencing Tolkien’s perception of power with the scope limited in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Based on the formulated perception which views power as having both beneficial and corruptive quality depending on the way of using, the researcher chooses to investigate further into the corruption of power which is symbolized by the power of the Ruling Ring as the theme of corruption is more prevalently portrayed throughout the trilogy. In order to fully understand the power’s method of gaining control over people encountering it and to highlight the differences in the degree of corruption, the researcher analyzes a wide array of people belonging to different races and divide them into two groups: the impotent characters and the powerful leaders . The results of the analysis unravel the Ring’s method of corruption, which is through the art of deception and achieved by its “secondary power” (Holley, 2014) and the illusion of power it creates in a person’s mind. The character-analyzing process also confirms the researcher’s assumption that the greater the power is, the grander the degree of corruption. While the impotent group’s corruption is essentially limited in their own physical exhaustion and “spiritual debilitation” (Chance, 2001), the corruption of leaders not only led to their own death or spiritual exile but also resulted in the tragic fate of countless innocent people under their rule and their war to seize power.